By rollplaying the "Captain" the person with the problem assumed a subordinate position immediately diffusing his anger and position of power. He went from angry about his show not working to playing along with the rep, amused instantly. Brilliant ploy really. Instead of "goddamn it, my netflix is broken. FIX IT NOW" he was taken off guard.

Reps aren't there to fix problems. They aren't technicians or engineers. You honestly expect a level-1 rep to log into whatever server is hosting the files and start troubleshooting/diagnosing the problem? Do you honestly want a level-1 tech doing that? They are simply there for very basic damage control, maybe able to provide a refund for one month, and send tickets to whatever department they belong to. It's like talking to Comcast/Cox/Charter/TW/etc. If you think the person who answers the phone is going to start troubleshooting a line problem, you haven't had the [mis]pleasure of talking to any of them or working in any sort of similar industry.

But moving on, this has got to be staged. The rep would've been fired for lack of professionalism (coming across as possibly mocking the customer). If that person was talking to my parents or some of my coworkers, the rep would've gotten a screen full of "WTF YOU THINK THIS IS A JOKE YOU %#!$&@( JACKASS??!??", which is how, sadly, most people would likely react to something like that.

RoxtarRyan:But moving on, this has got to be staged. The rep would've been fired for lack of professionalism (coming across as possibly mocking the customer). If that person was talking to my parents or some of my coworkers, the rep would've gotten a screen full of "WTF YOU THINK THIS IS A JOKE YOU %#!$&@( JACKASS??!??", which is how, sadly, most people would likely react to something like that.

Larry Mahnken:RoxtarRyan: But moving on, this has got to be staged. The rep would've been fired for lack of professionalism (coming across as possibly mocking the customer). If that person was talking to my parents or some of my coworkers, the rep would've gotten a screen full of "WTF YOU THINK THIS IS A JOKE YOU %#!$&@( JACKASS??!??", which is how, sadly, most people would likely react to something like that.

Your parents and co-workers sounds like really well-adjusted people.

Sigh... I'm the fruit of my parent's loins. As for my co-workers.... well, they are just the "old man yells at cloud" types.

RoxtarRyan:Larry Mahnken: RoxtarRyan: But moving on, this has got to be staged. The rep would've been fired for lack of professionalism (coming across as possibly mocking the customer). If that person was talking to my parents or some of my coworkers, the rep would've gotten a screen full of "WTF YOU THINK THIS IS A JOKE YOU %#!$&@( JACKASS??!??", which is how, sadly, most people would likely react to something like that.

Your parents and co-workers sounds like really well-adjusted people.

Sigh... I'm the fruit of my parent's loins. As for my co-workers.... well, they are just the "old man yells at cloud" types.

RoxtarRyan:But moving on, this has got to be staged. The rep would've been fired for lack of professionalism (coming across as possibly mocking the customer). If that person was talking to my parents or some of my coworkers, the rep would've gotten a screen full of "WTF YOU THINK THIS IS A JOKE YOU %#!$&@( JACKASS??!??", which is how, sadly, most people would likely react to something like that.

You know, while the rep started with the roleplay, the customer picked up the ball and ran with it. If the customer's Weeners would have been something like "umm, well my problem is "x" I doubt the rep would have continued on the same way.

Reps aren't there to fix problems. They aren't technicians or engineers. You honestly expect a level-1 rep to log into whatever server is hosting the files and start troubleshooting/diagnosing the problem? Do you honestly want a level-1 tech doing that? They are simply there for very basic damage control, maybe able to provide a refund for one month, and send tickets to whatever department they belong to. It's like talking to Comcast/Cox/Charter/TW/etc. If you think the person who answers the phone is going to start troubleshooting a line problem, you haven't had the [mis]pleasure of talking to any of them or working in any sort of similar industry.

Probably 100% true.I also found it funny when I found out that certain call centers have rotating supervisors, ie "Cynthia, you're supervisor today," "Jack, today you're the supervisor."So when you end up calling and feel that you are getting nowhere with the Rep and ask for the SUPERVISOR, all you get is another phone rep that makes you feel that your call was somehow escalated, but has no real added authority than the first Rep.

What companies should do is hire ex-phone sex operators:-hello?-good afternoon, sir, how may I help you?-you can help me by getting my damn cable running again! This is my third time calling and it's still out!!1!-wow...I'm so sorry to hear that, sir. I can actually see how stressed this is making you feel. Aw, heck, with your sexy voice, you make me wish I was over there just to give you a shoulder rub just so you could relax a bit.-....-...-.

Presto, satisfied customer who won't be bothering you for at least half an hour while tech tries to get things done while the customer makes an egg and cheese sandwich.

Problem is that them you'll probably have more repeat problems. Kind of like Bruce Willis in Red tearing up his (social security?) checks just so that he could call and complain to the CS rep.What you should do then is put a small rate on the call and gradually increase until you have a new side business!

The Netflix rep even used smileys. that takes you right out of role-play. THERE'S NO SMILEYS IN STAR TREK!

And here's another thing. Aside from the Bermuda Triangle reference, most of the rep's comments read as if they could have been generated by a bot. The bot picked up the user's name as "Lt" and just kept asking very generic questions.

Now if Netflix wanted to post this under "best customer complaint ever", then they might be on to something.

What I want to know is how do you talk a :) across the phone as the rep does this six times.Do you have smiley face buttons on phones now or just say "Smiley Face" as that would put a whole weird spin on things?

DreamWalker:What I want to know is how do you talk a :) across the phone as the rep does this six times.Do you have smiley face buttons on phones now or just say "Smiley Face" as that would put a whole weird spin on things?

Big Ramifications:DreamWalker: What I want to know is how do you talk a :) across the phone as the rep does this six times.Do you have smiley face buttons on phones now or just say "Smiley Face" as that would put a whole weird spin on things?

DreamWalker:What I want to know is how do you talk a :) across the phone as the rep does this six times.Do you have smiley face buttons on phones now or just say "Smiley Face" as that would put a whole weird spin on things?

fusillade762:tetsoushima: flup: All the service rep did was giggle and say "Lt" a few times....

I think the real story here is that the customer service rep wasn't a total asshole. That being said, I'm sure dealing with customer 'issues' would put anybody on edge after a while.

Been there, done that. I've had people threaten to kill me over a fifty cent charge on their pre-paid cellphone account.

I've had a customer threaten to bomb the store over some spam text messaging charges when I worked for AT&T wireless (before the Cingular BS). That was an interesting day. Even after making the threat 2-3 times very explicitly and graphically he then gave me his account number, name and SSN last 4 so that I could "credit" his account. He must have been shocked when the state police gave him a visit instead.

RoxtarRyan:But moving on, this has got to be staged. The rep would've been fired for lack of professionalism (coming across as possibly mocking the customer). If that person was talking to my parents or some of my coworkers, the rep would've gotten a screen full of "WTF YOU THINK THIS IS A JOKE YOU %#!$&@( JACKASS??!??", which is how, sadly, most people would likely react to something like that.

I can guarantee that it is not staged.

Every interaction I've had with Netflix support has been friendly rather than 'professional'.

I provide 2nd level support and I'm more friendly than professional with my customers. PEOPLE LIKE BEING TREATED LIKE HUMANS, not like robots*. It's possible to be friendly and still know WTF you're doing professionally.